It is known to join together two ends of a fabric using a pintle wire so as to provide an endless belt. Each end of the fabric is provided with outwardly extending loops, the two sets of loops being interdigitable and capable of union by a pintle wire. As these joints can be up to 10 meter in length it will be appreciated that it is difficult to pass the pintle wire down the length of the tunnel defined by the interdigitated loops due to friction between the wire and the loops. Furthermore there may be significant yarn to yarn abrasion of the pintle wire and loops whilst the fabric is running on the papermachine.
It is known to coat pintle wires with a resin coating in order to reduce abrasion of the pintle wire. However, the coating undesirably increases the rigidity of the wire. It is also difficult to obtain a uniform coating on the pintle wire and to obtain good adhesion of the resin to the wire.